In 1998 he moved to the then new margin forex trading industry and joined then start-up company CMC Markets that was one of the first companies to provide forex and CFD trading over the internet. The new industry grew very rapidly and created a new segment of the forex market for retail traders. In 2006, Sargon was sent to New Zealand to open a run the CMC Markets branch office there and has been living in New Zealand ever since. He has seen the change in the industry since the GFC and the move to increasing regulations from governments.
He joined GPP Markets in April 2016 to help establishing a new margin forex trading business that is fully regulated in New Zealand.
Sargon Elias在金融市场有25年以上的经验。过去15年，Sargon一直专注于外汇保证金交易业务。他有着丰富的技术背景，20世纪80年代末，Sargon在英国曼彻斯特大学攻读计算机专业。Sargon曾在伦敦的多家投资银行工作，他曾服务于摩根大通，对固定收益、股票和衍生品交易系统颇有研究。
1998年，Sargon进入外汇保证金行业，加入了当时的初创公司CMC Markets。CMC Markets是第一批通过互联网提供外汇和CFD差价合约交易的公司之一。外汇行业发展强劲，外汇市场零售商进入了一个全新的阶段。2006年，Sargon被派往新西兰，全权负责CMC Markets新西兰业务，担任CMC Markets新西兰总部CEO。自那时起，Sargon一直居住在新西兰。他见证了行业自GFC以来的变化，也见证了政府对外汇行业越来越严格的监管。
2016年4月，Sargon加入GPP Markets，协助创建一个全新的、完全由新西兰监管的外汇保证金交易业务。
Q：A brief introduction of the development process of the Western forex margin industry; your opinion about the whole forex industry; an analysis on the future trend.
Q：请简单介绍一下西方外汇保证金行业的发展历程以及您对整个行业的看法和未来趋势分析。
A：Margin forex industry as we know it today developed in the mid-1990s with the development trading platforms and the internet. This changed the market and allowed many more people to participate, trading from home and from anywhere in the world as they could see streaming prices and execute trades directly from those prices. Before this traders would either have to have access to expensive dedicated price feeds from terminals provided by companies such as Reuters or they would call a local broker and ask for a price. The online platforms allowed direct access and changed how people could access the market, making it much simpler, cheaper and faster. The development of the Contract for Difference (CFD) in the UK also helped to develop the margin trading model and this created a big boost for online trading by retail investors in the early 2000s which also helped bring forex to many more clients. Margin trading and rolling spot contracts allowed client to trade without having to worry about the complex and expensive settlement process as contracts would be rolled forward every night and they could simply take advantage of the difference in price and allowed them to speculate on many of the worlds currencies as well as gold, oil, major indices and other commodities. It gave access for the little man to markets that before could previously only be accessed by large global banks and brokers.
众所周知，随着交易平台和互联网的发展，从上世纪90年代中期起，外汇保证金交易发展日新月异。这不但改变了市场，同时也允许更多的人参与进市场来。人们随时随地可以进行交易，因为可以实时地看到流动价格并按这些价格执行交易。而在此之前，交易者只能通过路透社等公司提供的终端获取昂贵的专业报价，或者致电当地的经纪人才能获得报价。网络平台改变了人们进入市场的方式，投资者可以直接访问市场，这使交易变得更简单、更便宜、更快捷。
英国差价合约（CFD）的出现有助于保证金交易模式的发展，大大繁荣了零售投资者的网上交易，同时也使更多的投资者接触到了外汇交易。保证金交易和滚动现货合约使客户放心交易，无须担心复杂和昂贵的结算过程。因为合约每晚都会滚动报价，投资者可以通过价格差异进行简单地计算，预测国际货币（大多币种）、黄金、石油和指数等主要产品的价格。个人投资者可以进入到以前只有大型全球银行和经纪人才能接触的市场。
Many companies were created as it became easier to by platforms such as MetaTrader and to get white label solutions for other brokers. The spreads narrowed with increased competition, for example in 2004 the average spread for a major pair like GBPUSD was about 3-4 pips for retail clients. Today this is between 0.3 and one pip, similarly for the minor pair such as NZDGBP it has gone from 8-12 pips to 1-3 pips. Some brokers are even giving near zero spreads for major currency pairs as they fight for market share. The aim for all the brokers is scale, the bigger the volume traded the bigger the profit as the technology allows many thousands of clients to trade on one platform even at peak events this is no longer a problem for the current server hardware systems. Just like in the wholesale market, retail trading speeds have become more and more important. Price latency is an issue and is measure in milliseconds, with different strategies used by clients such as Virtual Private Servers VPS at data centres in London, New York and Chicago to reduce the latency.
对于经纪商而言，通过MetaTrader平台或是其他经纪商的白标合作变得简单了。因此，经纪商创办了越来越多的公司。随着竞争的加剧，利差也在收紧。举例来说，在2004年，对零售客户来说，像GBP/USD（英镑兑美元）这样的主要货币对的平均点差为3-4点，而现在，英镑兑美元的点差介于0.3和1点之间。类似的例子还有NZD/GBP（新西兰元兑英镑），点差已从8-12点降至1-3点。某些经纪商甚至能够为一些主要货币对提供接近于零的点差，以此来为他们争取更多的市场份额。对于所有的经纪商而言，他们的目标都是规模，交易量越大，利润越大。技术的成熟已经允许成千上万的客户在一个平台上交易，即使在成交高峰期，也完全没问题，这已经不再是服务器硬件系统的问题。就像在批发市场，零售交易的速度变得越来越重要。价格延迟是一个问题，因为衡量单位以毫秒计。客户使用不同的交易策略以减少延迟，例如在伦敦、纽约和芝加哥的数据中心使用虚拟专用服务器VPS。
There were two main trends in recent years, 1. Automated trading systems or robo-trading also known as EA’s in MT4, where traders program a system to trade automatically based on certain rules, normally based on technical analysis and 2. social trading, where traders follow the trades of others that are successful or have a wide following. A separate trend has been the impact on counterparty trust after the GFC and the failure of brokers and loss of client funds, such as the well-known example of MF Global that used client funds for its own use, which should never be allowed and is prohibited by all regulators. The most recent development has been the regulators catching up with the trend and we have seen significant increases in regulations around the world, which has meant a consolidation of brokers. But the interesting point as with many internet based services is that country based regulation has difficulty to regulate internet based services as they can be accessed from anywhere. So we have seen many brokers register in low regulation jurisdictions, such as Cyprus, although that is changing with new European regulations.
近年来有两个主要趋势。第一，自动交易系统或机器人交易。就像MT4的EA，其中交易者编程系统是基于某些规则和技术分析执行自动交易；第二，社区交易。交易者跟随交易成功率较高者或跟随具有众多追随者的交易者进行交易。GFC之后，一个单独的趋势是对交易双方信任、经纪商失败和客户资金流失的影响。拿MF Global的案例来说，挪用客户资金，这是绝对不允许的，是被所有监管机构明令禁止的。
最近的形势是，监管机构发展日趋完善。我们可喜地看到，全世界的监管明显严格，这意味着经纪商的合并。许多基于互联网的服务都有一个有趣的地方，基于国家的监管难以规范，因为人们可以从任何地方进行网络访问。所以，我们看到很多经纪商在准入门槛较低的监管区如塞浦路斯注册，但随着新的欧洲法规的出台，这种情况正在发生改变。
Q：Comment on the advantages & disadvantages of MM, STP, ECN and MTF models.
Q：请对外汇交易中的MM，STP，ECN，MTF 模式的特点、利弊进行评论。
A：Market Maker (MM) model is the most common as it is easy for the broker to provide and is the most flexible for clients, it is possible to trade very small contracts as the broker can aggregate positions and only hedge one large net amount. However the disadvantage is that there may be a conflict between the broker and client and this can mean prices may be manipulated. A loss of the client is a gain for the broker and so there may be a temptation to intervene in the system that is not to the benefit of the client.
A：做市商模式（MM）是最常见的，因为对于经纪商来说很容易，同时对于客户来说也是最灵活的，可以用很小的资金进行交易，因为经纪人可以聚合仓位，并且只对冲一个大净额。它的缺点是经纪商和客户之间可能存在冲突，价格可能被操控。客户的损失就是经纪商的收益，因此，可能存在经纪商干扰系统的诱惑，不利于客户。
Straight Through Processing (STP), just means that the broker passes the trades to another liquidity provider, to avoid the conflict of interest with the client and does not have its own dealing desk. This is seen by many traders as safer. The advantage is the broker has no conflict of interest. However, somebody has to take the position somewhere up stream and sometimes this is not always true, this is also sometimes known as No Dealing Desk (NDD). The recent revocation of FXCM’s US license is an example where a company said it was NDD but in fact was taking positions, so this is not always true even for bigger listed brokers.
直通式处理系统（STP），指的是经纪商将交易传递给另一个流动性提供者，避免了与客户的利益冲突，是无处理平台模式，被许多交易者认为更安全。其优点是经纪商与客户没有利益冲突。然而，系统上游的某个位置必须有人（流动性供应商），而有时上游没有人，这种处理系统有时被称为无交易平台模式（NDD）。最近FXCM在美国的许可证被撤销就是一个例子，公司说采用的是NDD的模式，但实际上利用了交易头寸，即使对于大型上市公司来说，上游可能也没有流动性供应商。
ECN and MTF are very similar, ECN is the US name and MTF the European Union name for electronic trading venues, these take feeds from many banks and brokers and aggregate the best price and allow trading directly. These have advantages as the electronic exchange is independent from the traders and market makers and use very fast matching technology. However sometimes the members are not equal and the some give big banks and other participants the ability to do ‘last look’ which means that the matching is not even. However most will operate fairly but compared to MM these will cost more as the electronic exchange has to cover its own costs and make some profit, but are generally more transparent and fair.
ECN和MTF都是电子交易所，区别是ECN是美式叫法，MTF是欧盟叫法。电子交易所从众多银行和经纪商聚合最佳价格，允许直接交易。优点是独立于交易者和市场制造商，并且使用非常快速的匹配技术。然而，有时候成员并不是平等的，有些给大银行和其他参与者做“最后一次”的匹配；大多数平台是公平的，但与MM相比，这种模式耗资巨大，因为电子交换须支付自己的成本并获得利润，但通常更加透明和公平。
Q：View an issue from an international perspective, what do you think of CUFE's academic seminar on 9th April? Comment on the significance of China’s influence to the world finance and economy.
Q：请您用国际视角评论一下4月9日中央财经大学“金融科技变革和新型交易清算机制”学术研讨会的意义，以及对中国外汇市场发展的影响；分析一下，人民币国际化给世界金融和经济会带来什么影响。
A： Fintech is the abbreviation of finance + technology, which the use of large data, block chain and other Internet innovation technology for risk control and platform management. Certainly Fintech can bypass many of the traditional systems. For example we have seen a big change in payment systems bypassing the old banking networks and payment networks, to make near instant transfer possible across the world. This includes China where internet technology has allowed a number of new solution providers to come to the table although there are limitations because of the Chinese firewall and currency restrictions.
A：Fintech是finance + technology的缩写，即金融科技的意思。利用大数据、区块链等互联网创新技术进行风险控制和平台管理。 Fintech可以绕过许多传统系统，例如，我们已经看到支付系统的一个重大变化：绕过了传统的银行网络和支付网络，使在全世界的即时转账成为可能，当然也包括中国。互联网技术允许一些新的供应商入驻，提供全新的解决方案。但由于防火墙和货币限制，在中国有所受限。
With the growth of China and its economy it has become more and more important in global finances, but is held back by restrictions on capital movement and the restrictions of the RMB. It is clear that the Chinese government wants to increase the participation of China and its institutions and citizens in global financial markets but also wants to maintain control. The restrictions and controls mean that China is only a very small part of the global financial system and this will not change in the short or medium period. There are conflicting priorities and aims by the Chinese government which means it is unlikely that the RMB will ever be allowed to completely free float, however there have been and will likely be more relaxation of controls and we will see an increase in China in global financial markets over time, but this not linear and there may be moves back when there are economic stresses. The true test of a free floating currency is that the government does not intervene even through periods of stress. Most countries will intervene in their own currencies, but for many small countries their intervention is limited by the size of the daily forex market, it is clear that the Chinese government wants to maintain control and the restrictions allow it to do so.
随着中国的全面发展，尤其是经济的增长，中国在世界金融中变得越来越举足轻重。但同时，中国金融行业的发展受到资本流动限制和人民币限制的制约。很明显，中国政府希望增加中国及其机构以及中国公民在全球金融市场的参与度，同时也希望保持控制权。限制和控制意味着中国只是全球金融体系的一小部分，这在短期甚至中期不会有大的改观。中国政府的优先事项和目标相互矛盾，意味着人民币在短期内不太可能完全自由流通。但是，中国政府已经并正在更多地放松管制，我们能看到中国在全球金融领域的增长，但增长不是线性的，当有经济压力时可能会回落。
自由流通货币的真正考验是，政府即使在压力时期也不干预，大多数国家都对自己的货币进行干预，但对许多小国家来说，它们的干预受到每日外汇市场规模的限制。很明显，中国政府希望保持控制和限制，并允许这样做。
For the foreseeable future the USD will remain the key currency and primary reserve currency and how most commodities are priced. We see this again and again when there are geopolitical events even when the US would suffer from them, the USD will rise against other currencies. The current top four traded currencies pairs are;
EUR/USD: The euro and the U.S. dollar
USD/JPY: The U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen
GBP/USD: The British pound sterling and the U.S. dollar
USD/CHF: The U.S. dollar and the Swiss franc
And these are unlikely to change for some time.
在可预见的未来，美元仍是主要货币和主要储备货币以及大多数商品的定价货币。我们一次又一次地看到，当美元遭受地缘政治事件攻击的时候，相对于其他货币依然坚挺。当前四大交易货币对是：
EUR/USD：欧元兑美元
USD/JPY：美元兑日元
GBP/USD：英镑兑美元
USD/CHF：美元兑瑞士法郎
这些在短期内不太可能改变。
温馨提示：
中央财经大学金融学院成立“金融科技变革与人民币国际化背景下新型外汇衍生品交易清算机制研究”课题组，于4月9日在中央财经大学·学术会堂举办金融科技学术研讨会。
GPP全球CEO Sargon Elias将出席学术研讨会，这是他第一次来中国参加学术型会议。届时，Sargon将从国际视角出发，分析世界资本流动和中国未来金融走势，让中国投资者了解国际金融衍生品市场及发展趋势。
